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2LT Millard Hawley Smith – Commissioned in Engineering Corp in May 1952

Millard Hawley Smith was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His military career began in a Missouri National Guard Infantry Company while still attending high school. In 1948, he graduated from Beaumont High School. He enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall, becoming a member of the first Army ROTC class as a freshman in 1948. At CU-Boulder, he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity which he was a member for all four years in school. He was appointed as the secretary for his fraternity for several years. As a participant of the AROTC program he became the cadet lieutenant colonel in his junior year and then the cadet colonel in his senior year. 

In May 1952, he commissioned as a second lieutenant in Artillery in which he served two years. He then spent the next eight years in the Finance Corps, beginning in Africa. In the Army, his performance placed him as one of the highest rated Army Finance Officers in the active service. Captain Smith was decorated twice with the Army commendation for significant achievements. When he returned to the states, he attended Syracuse University in New York to obtain his Master’s Degree in Business. He resigned his commission in 1962 after ten years of active duty service while on a promotion list to the rank of major.  

Cadet LT COL Millard Hawley Smith (front row, third from right) standing next to the current Professor of Military Science (PMS), COL Cornman L. Hahn (fourth from right). Photo courtesy of the 1951 Colorado Yearbook.

Millard Smith spent the next chapter in his professional life working in the private industry sector for the Federal government. In the private sector, he because a Manager for large organizations which established computer information systems for education, universities, and hospitals. During this time, he also completed his Doctorate in Education from Bowling Green State University in 1969. Later in the Federal government service he rose from Director of a Small Business Admin District Office to the largest District in the Nation as a Senior Exec Service Civil servant. 

2016 published autobiography called “My Crossroads” by Millard Hawley Smith. Donated copy to Army ROTC department in February 2017.

After retirement from Federal Service, he volunteered for many organizations. He served as President of the Arleta Chamber of Commerce, President of the San Fernando chapter of the Retired Federal Employees Association, Finance Officer of the local American Legion Post, and President and Treasurer of Homeowner’s Associations.

In 2016, he went on to publish his autobiography called “My Crossroads”. A nationally acclaimed portrait of a middleclass American boy raised during the Great Depression and overcoming a broken family that forced him to become a leader and independent instead of a follower stuck in the road. His message is about traveling the many crossroads through life. “You will have good times and bad times, mistakes and successes. As you go through life, your experiences will better prepare you to choose the right road. Once you make a decision and start down the new road, there is little chance of turning back. A decision requires some probability of error.”